Sunday, October 26, 2008

Dogs Like Vacant Lots, Too, Just Like Kids

Fall days have been sunny and mild, +10º, great for working outside. Now that my back is better, Tanya is in her make-work mode again, cleaning the yard, raking leaves, digging, burning, etc. etc. etc. Bleah! But if I don’t help, she does it all herself, which is not conducive to keeping her a happy camper.

We let the pups out of their yard to play whenever someone is outside. They range about a block in all directions returning home every so often to check in. Chicken hunting is no longer a problem as long as the chickens don’t get so close they are irresistible. The marsh is east of us, there is a vacant garden lot grown high with weeds to the west of us, beside our garden. The road and pipeline make a boundary to the south. Down the road to the north live a number of dogs, a couple of which also run free on occasion and hang out with ours.

One of them is a little golden haired dog who has become Bobik’s girlfriend. Volk hangs around them but is mainly ignored. The other night when I went out to shut them in their pen, Bobik had decided to bring his girlfriend home for the night. Much as I am pro romance, I was afraid the old Babushka who owns her might worry. Bobik walked her home like a true gentleman and then came back to our yard for the night.They love hunting in the reeds by the marsh and to their everlasting satisfaction, flushed a couple of pheasants one day. They get all wet, then walk home through the fresh ploughed garden and arrive looking like pigs. And the weeds in the vacant garden lot are home to many mice which keep the dogs hunting for hours. Doubt they ever catch any but it amuses them to no end.I’m sure my missing slipper is out there somewhere, too. Volk loves to steal slippers. Not shoes. Too heavy. He doesn’t chew them, just carries them around, playing keep-away with Bobik until he gets bored and then drops it. I found it once but not this time.

They are now almost 10 months old, well furred out for winter and pretty well behaved, all things considered. They are no guard dogs but good dogs never the less.

This morning, Vovo, Lucia's two year old grandson, was out on the street when the dogs were let out. Volk went running up to him, crouched down to be petted and then rolled over to have his tummy rubbed. It was so cute.

We have met the Enemy

Proud to be Ukrainian

About Me

Father, husband, agricultural consultant, beef cattle specialist, dog owner, reluctant gardener, amateur photographer, history buff and wandering soul who has at last found home and happiness in Ukraine. Fully registered as a permanent resident, who unfortunately looks like his passport picture, I am here for the foreseeable future, having married the “only woman in Ukraine who does not want to move to Canada”. I do miss my kids terribly, though Tanya’s family including two granddaughters make up for it somewhat.